Amended in Assembly March 27, 2014

Amended in Assembly July 3, 2013

Amended in Senate April 4, 2013

Senate Bill No. 767

Introduced by Senator Lieu

February 22, 2013

An act to amend Section begin delete 399.12.6 of the Public Utilities Code, relating to public utilities end delete begin insert 1808.4 of the Vehicle Code, relating to the Department of Motor Vehicles end insert .

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SB 767, as amended, Lieu. begin delete Public utilities: California Renewables Portfolio Standard Program: biomethane. end delete begin insert Department of Motor Vehicles: records: confidentiality. end insert

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Existing law prohibits the disclosure of the home addresses of certain public employees and officials that appear in any records of the Department of Motor Vehicles, except to a court, a law enforcement agency, an attorney in a civil or criminal action under certain circumstances, and certain other official entities.

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This bill would extend that prohibition, subject to those same exceptions, to the disclosure of the home addresses of code enforcement officers, as defined.

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Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest.

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This bill would make legislative findings to that effect.

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Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations, as defined. The existing California Renewables Portfolio Standard Program (RPS program) requires a retail seller of electricity, as defined, and a local publicly owned electric utility to purchase specified minimum quantities of electricity products from eligible renewable energy resources, as defined, for specified compliance periods. Existing law requires the procurement of biomethane delivered through a common carrier pipeline under a contract, as provided, to count toward the procurement requirements established by the RPS program, under rules in place at the time the contract was executed, provided that the rules apply only to sources that are producing biomethane and injecting it into a common carrier pipeline on or before April 1, 2014.

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This bill would amend that date to January 31, 2015.

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Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee:  begin delete no end delete begin insert yes end insert . State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

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begin insert SECTION 1. end insert   

This act shall be known, and may be cited, as the
Cynthia Volpe Act.

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begin insert

begin insert SEC. 2. end insert   

end insert begin insert

The Legislature finds and declares the following:

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(a) Existing law provides security for residential information
of certain drivers, including sworn and nonsworn employees of
police departments, district attorneys, public defenders, child abuse
investigators or social workers working in child protective services
or a social services department, and a number of other persons
performing sensitive public service work.

end insert begin insert

(b) Code enforcement officers who are nonsworn employees of
a police agency are covered under existing law, but the residential
information of other code enforcement officers working in
free-standing code enforcement is not.

end insert begin insert

(c) In 1992, Cynthia Volpe, a code enforcement officer for the
City of Bakersfield, along with her husband and mother, were
murdered in their home by a person who had been issued a citation
for failure to abate slum housing conditions in apartment units
that were owned by the perpetrator. The perpetrator obtained
knowledge of Ms. Volpe’s home address by acquiring her
Department of Motor Vehicle information.

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begin insert

begin insert SEC. 3. end insert   

end insert

begin insert Section 1808.4 of the end insert begin insert Vehicle Code end insert begin insert is amended to read: end insert

1808.4.  

(a) For all of the following persons, his or her home
address that appears in a record of the department is confidential
if the person requests the confidentiality of that information:

(1) Attorney General.

(2) State Public Defender.

(3) A Member of the Legislature.

(4) A judge or court commissioner.

(5) A district attorney.

(6) A public defender.

(7) An attorney employed by the Department of Justice, the
office of the State Public Defender, or a county office of the district
attorney or public defender.

(8) A city attorney and an attorney who submits verification
from his or her public employer that the attorney represents the
city in matters that routinely place the attorney in personal contact
with persons under investigation for, charged with, or convicted
of, committing criminal acts, if that attorney is employed by a city
attorney.

(9) A nonsworn police dispatcher.

(10) A child abuse investigator or social worker, working in
child protective services within a social services department.

(11) An active or retired peace officer, as defined in Chapter
4.5 (commencing with Section 830) of Title 3 of Part 2 of the Penal
Code.

(12) An employee of the Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation, Division of Juvenile Facilities, or the Prison
Industry Authority specified in Sections 20403 and 20405 of the
Government Code.

(13) A nonsworn employee of a city police department, a county
sheriff’s office, the Department of the California Highway Patrol,
a federal, state, or local detention facility, or a local juvenile hall,
camp, ranch, or home, who submits agency verification that, in
the normal course of his or her employment, he or she controls or
supervises inmates or is required to have a prisoner in his or her
care or custody.

(14) A county counsel assigned to child abuse cases.

(15) An investigator employed by the Department of Justice, a
county district attorney, or a county public defender.

(16) A member of a city council.

(17) A member of a board of supervisors.

(18) A federal prosecutor, criminal investigator, or National
Park Service Ranger working in this state.

(19) An active or retired city enforcement officer engaged in
the enforcement of the Vehicle Code or municipal parking
ordinances.

(20) An employee of a trial court.

(21) A psychiatric social worker employed by a county.

(22) A police or sheriff department employee designated by the
Chief of Police of the department or the sheriff of the county as
being in a sensitive position. A designation pursuant to this
paragraph shall, for purposes of this section, remain in effect for
three years subject to additional designations that, for purposes of
this section, shall remain in effect for additional three-year periods.

(23) A state employee in one of the following classifications:

(A) Licensing Registration Examiner, Department of Motor
Vehicles.

(B) Motor Carrier Specialist 1, Department of the California
Highway Patrol.

(C) Museum Security Officer and Supervising Museum Security
Officer.

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(24) A code enforcement officer, as defined in Section 829.5 of
the Penal Code.

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(24)

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begin insert (25) end insert  (A) The spouse or child of a person listed in paragraphs
(1) to begin delete (23) end delete begin insert (24) end insert , inclusive, regardless of the spouse’s or child’s
place of residence.

(B) The surviving spouse or child of a peace officer, as defined
in Chapter 4.5 (commencing with Section 830) of Title 3 of Part
2 of the Penal Code, if the peace officer died in the line of duty.

(C) (i) Subparagraphs (A) and (B) shall not apply if the person
listed in those subparagraphs was convicted of a crime and is on
active parole or probation.

(ii) For requests made on or after January 1, 2011, the person
requesting confidentiality for their spouse or child listed in
subparagraph (A) or (B) shall declare, at the time of the request
for confidentiality, whether the spouse or child has been convicted
of a crime and is on active parole begin insert , mandatory supervision,
postrelease community supervision, end insert or probation.

(iii) Neither the listed person’s employer nor the department
shall be required to verify, or be responsible for verifying, that a
person listed in subparagraph (A) or (B) was convicted of a crime
and is on active parole begin insert , mandatory supervision, postrelease
community supervision, end insert or probation.

(b) The confidential home address of a person listed in
subdivision (a) shall not be disclosed, except to any of the
following:

(1) A court.

(2) A law enforcement agency.

(3) The State Board of Equalization.

(4) An attorney in a civil or criminal action that demonstrates
to a court the need for the home address, if the disclosure is made
pursuant to a subpoena.

(5) A governmental agency to which, under any provision of
law, information is required to be furnished from records
maintained by the department.

(c) (1) A record of the department containing a confidential
home address shall be open to public inspection, as provided in
Section 1808, if the address is completely obliterated or otherwise
removed from the record.

(2) Following termination of office or employment, a
confidential home address shall be withheld from public inspection
for three years, unless the termination is the result of conviction
of a criminal offense. If the termination or separation is the result
of the filing of a criminal complaint, a confidential home address
shall be withheld from public inspection during the time in which
the terminated individual may file an appeal from termination,
while an appeal from termination is ongoing, and until the appeal
process is exhausted, after which confidentiality shall be at the
discretion of the employing agency if the termination or separation
is upheld. Upon reinstatement to an office or employment, the
protections of this section are available.

(3) With respect to a retired peace officer, his or her home
address shall be withheld from public inspection permanently upon
request of confidentiality at the time the information would
otherwise be opened. The home address of the surviving spouse
or child listed in subparagraph (B) of paragraph begin delete (24) end delete begin insert (25) end insert of
subdivision (a) shall be withheld from public inspection for three
years following the death of the peace officer.

(4) The department shall inform a person who requests a
confidential home address what agency the individual whose
address was requested is employed by or the court at which the
judge or court commissioner presides.

(d) A violation of subdivision (a) by the disclosure of the
confidential home address of a peace officer, as specified in
paragraph (11) of subdivision (a), a nonsworn employee of the
city police department or county sheriff’s office, or the spouses or
children of these persons, including, but not limited to, the
surviving spouse or child listed in subparagraph (B) of paragraph
begin delete (24) end delete begin insert (25) end insert of subdivision (a), that results in bodily injury to the
peace officer, employee of the city police department or county
sheriff’s office, or the spouses or children of these persons is a
felony.

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SECTION 1.  

Section 399.12.6 of the Public Utilities Code is
amended to read:

399.12.6.  

(a) (1) Any procurement of biomethane delivered
through a common carrier pipeline under a contract executed by
a retail seller or local publicly owned electric utility and reported
to the Energy Commission prior to March 29, 2012, and otherwise
eligible under the rules in place as of the date of contract execution
shall count toward the procurement requirements established in
this article, under the rules in place at the time the contract was
executed, including the Fourth Edition of the Energy Commission’s
Renewables Portfolio Standard Eligibility Guidebook, provided
that those rules shall apply only to sources that are producing
biomethane and injecting it into a common carrier pipeline on or
before January 31, 2015.

(2) The eligibility requirements of subdivision (b) shall apply
beginning March 29, 2012, to any quantities of biomethane
associated with any of the following:

(A) An extension of the term of the original contract.

(B) Any quantity of biomethane that exceeds the quantities of
biomethane specified in the original contract.

(C) Any optional quantities of biomethane that can be exercised
at the discretion of the buyer.

(D) Any change in the source or sources of biomethane
identified in the original contract or the original application for
certification submitted to the Energy Commission.

(E) Any quantity of biomethane from a source not producing
and capturing biomethane and injecting it into a common carrier
pipeline on or before January 31, 2015.

(F) The conditions of this paragraph shall apply beginning
March 29, 2012.

(b) For contracts initially executed on or after March 29, 2012,
or for quantities of biomethane associated with contract
amendments executed on or after March 29, 2012, the use of
biomethane by a generating facility shall not qualify as an eligible
renewable energy resource unless it satisfies all applicable
requirements established by the Energy Commission and meets
any of the following requirements:

(1) The biomethane is used by an onsite generating facility.

(2) The biomethane is used by an offsite generating facility and
delivered to the generating facility through a dedicated pipeline.

(3) The biomethane is delivered to a generating facility through
a common carrier pipeline and meets all of the following
requirements:

(A) The source of biomethane injects the biomethane into a
common carrier pipeline that physically flows within California
or toward the generating facility for which the biomethane was
procured under the original contract.

(B) The source of biomethane did not inject biomethane into a
common carrier pipeline prior to March 29, 2012, or the source
commenced injection of sufficient incremental quantities of
biomethane after March 29, 2012, to satisfy the contract
requirements.

(C) The seller or purchaser of the biomethane demonstrates that
the capture and injection of biomethane into a common carrier
pipeline directly results in at least one of the following
environmental benefits to California:

(i) The reduction or avoidance of the emission of any criteria
air pollutant in California.

(ii) The reduction or avoidance of pollutants that could have an
adverse impact on waters of the state.

(iii) The alleviation of a local nuisance within California that
is associated with the emission of odors.

(c) For all electricity products generated using biomethane that
are credited toward the renewables portfolio standard procurement
obligations established pursuant to this article, sufficient renewable
and environmental attributes of biomethane production and capture
shall be transferred to the retail seller or local publicly owned
electric utility that uses that biomethane to ensure that there are
zero net emissions associated with the production of electricity
from the generating facility using the biomethane. The provisions
of this subdivision shall be applied in a manner consistent with
the definition of “green attributes” as specified by the commission
in Decision 08-08-028, Decision on Definition and Attributes of
Renewable Energy Credits for Compliance with the California
Renewables Portfolio Standard (August 21, 2008), as may be
modified by subsequent decision of the commission.

(d) All sellers and purchasers of biomethane shall comply with
a system for tracking and verifying the use of biomethane, as
established by the Energy Commission, that is equivalent to the
system required by subdivision (c) of Section 399.25.

(e) For contracts initially executed on or after March 29, 2012,
or for quantities of biomethane associated with contract
amendments executed after March 29, 2012, the use of biomethane
shall be assigned to the appropriate portfolio content category
based on the application of the criteria in subdivision (b) of Section
399.16 to the procurement of electricity by the retail seller or local
publicly owned electric utility from the generating facility
consuming the biomethane.

(f) A retail seller, local publicly owned electric utility, or an
intermediary party to a biomethane procurement contract shall not
make a marketing, regulatory, or retail claim that asserts that a
biomethane procurement contract to which that entity was a party
resulted, or will result, in greenhouse gas reductions related to the
destruction of methane if the capture and destruction is required
by law. If the capture and destruction of the biomethane is not
required by law, a retail seller, local publicly owned electric utility,
or an intermediary party to a biomethane procurement contract
shall not make a marketing, regulatory, or retail claim that asserts
that a biomethane procurement contract to which that entity was
a party resulted, or will result, in greenhouse gas reductions related
to the destruction of methane, unless the environmental attributes
associated with the capture and destruction of the biomethane
pursuant to that contract are transferred to the retail seller or
publicly owned electric utility that purchased that biomethane and
retired on behalf of the retail customers consuming the electricity
associated with the use of that biomethane, or unless the
biomethane procurement contract prohibits the source of
biomethane from separately marketing the environmental attributes
associated with the capture and destruction of the biomethane sold
pursuant to that contract. These attributes shall be retired and may
not be resold.

(g) For the purposes of this section, “biomethane” means landfill
gas or digester gas, consistent with Section 25741 of the Public
Resources Code.

(h) If any provision of this section or the application of any
provision of this section is held invalid, biomethane delivered
through a common carrier pipeline pursuant to a contract executed
within 180 days of, or at any time subsequent to, the invalidation
of that provision shall not qualify as an eligible renewable energy
resource.

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